Disclaimer: On chapter 1
Setting: WKC I/AU
It took everything Yulie had to keep her composure in this latest of meets she was sitting in place of her father instead of rolling her eyes at Count Vermont's suggestion that they would have been able to mine more ore from the bunker lode caverns if they focused on the north eastern wall of the caldera. Instead, like her father and assistant had taught her over the years, she waited until the Count finished his lengthy speech on future mining locations before speaking so as not to provoke them into thinking she was, once again, too young to be taking her father's place in these matters.
"Count Vermont, as you and everyone else here knows, there is a colony of dragons residing in that area of the Flanders. In return for leaving them in peace, they have left us in peace." Yulie began calmly. "Even just moving the demithor there may provoke them into believing we are attacking and attempting to reclaim their territory."
"Countess Drisdall. Just because your family has a tradition that involves those creatures-"
"Just one of those creatures as you call them could level all of Greede!" Yulie interrupted Vermont before he could go on with his, no doubt, rehearsed speech of how her family's rite of supplication in times of need was irrelevant in this period of peace and that she was just a mere girl not long of age and merely keeping her father's seat warm with no clue as to how things in Greede worked. "Just because my family is involved with the colony doesn't mean I put them before the people of this city. The Flanders may be our home per se, but that doesn't give us the right to rule over it. Unless you wish Greede to be more like her namesake instead of the free city?"
Again, Yulie forced her face to remain neutral instead of grinning in victory as a flushed Count Vermont stared down at the mahogany desk in front of him unlike several of the other members who did little to hide their amusement or disdain.
"Now then. If the matter of where we'll be drilling next season has been properly addressed, shall we move on to the next order of business?" Yulie inquired.
One grueling hour later, Yulie was sighing in relief as the meeting finally came to a close and she could get out of the room. How her father could tolerate these things with those people was something she hoped she could master soon if she were to succeed him.
Still, that was a task that could wait for later. Right now, she had something far more important she needed to get done.
With the mining season done for the year, the demithor was now leisurely wandering the base of the caldera until next season, by which time a new mine will have been located and scouted but the time between then and now would have her stuck in meet after meet about the aforementioned giving her little time to do anything else.
Gently clasping the small pendant hung round her neck, Yulie willed her magic into the item activating the rune and nullifying the illusion of the formal attire she was wearing revealing the form fitting huntress gear she had put on this morning. One of the joys of magic she much enjoyed from her training in the arcane arts by her assistant.
Reaching the main station entrance, Yulie quickly spotted a man standing just inside wearing a very familiar trenchcoat she had bought for the man's birthday just last year and an impressive staff resting against his shoulder. Even with the hood of the coat up, she could tell that the man was well aware that she was approaching him.
"Took your sweet time, Violet." He muttered when she got close to him, his use of her nickname causing Yulie's heart to skip a beat.
"Is that any way to treat a Countess? Or should I say the future Lady Drisdall?" Yulie threw back at him.
"Don't know what I find more scary: you being a lady or you being the next head of the Drisdall line." The man scoffed his eyes focusing on Yuie as she now stood right in front of him, causing the girl to once again school her features to prevent her cheeks from reddening under his scrutiny.
"You do know your job is on the line when you say that, right? Or do you just want to have an excuse to be bending over backwards before your future employer, Blue?" Yulie asked using her own nickname for the man instead of his real name. "Wonder how your old war buddies would react to hearing about Alastor, Dark Magician of the Chaos Legion, acting like a servant in a maid's outfit?"
"Keep that up and I'll charm that Requip amulet to change your attire into something completely... unsuitable for those meetings you endure in your father's stead."
Anyone else would have reversed tactics at that point. Yulie however, having known the mage who had once terrorised the battlefields with his sorcerous feats, merely shrugged her shoulders while offering Alastor a soft smile.
"So long as it renders them speechless." She replied as she started walking again towards the station knowing that Alastor was now following half a step behind her. "Did you remember to bring it?"
"Of course I did, My Lady." Alastor replied sarcastically before returning to his serious self. "You sure you're up for this though? These creatures are far faster and deadlier than their blue scaled counterparts."
"We'll soon find out." Yulie answered more to herself than to Alastor as she accepted the pack containing her bow and quiver from him and slinging it over one shoulder. "It's got the last ingredient I need to complete it."
'It' being a bust of a rare deity that held sentimental meaning to Yulie's father. For months, Yulie had been slowly creating a replica using natural resources and her own growing skill in magic to mold it. The going had been slow as she was still a novice in the ways of sorcery, compared to Alastor anyways, but now, after countless nights of scouring books looking for pictures of the deity and then the painstaking process of using magic to sculpture it, all without her father knowing what she was up to, she was almost finished.
All that was needed were a pair of jewels called firestones that could only be found in a rare breed of lesser dragons. Trouble was, they were elusive to find and even harder to catch let alone kill. Yulie was hoping that her amateur skills in magic, coupled with her more natural skill with a bow and Alastor's own experience in combat, were enough to take down the beast and obtain the jewels.
But first, they had to find an area of the Flanders where they had recently been sighted. Thankfully, the Free City of Greede was full of inhabitants of a diverse range of subjects including a small guild calling themselves 'Drakewatch'' who specialised in keeping track of certain species of dragons that dwelled outside the territory of the main dragon herd residing in the Flanders. Including Yulie's target.
After a little bargaining, a good deal of planning and then a lengthy hike from the closest gondola post, Yulie and Alastor found themselves standing in a small clearing surrounded by sheer cliff walls save the cavern they just came through.
"Is this the place?" Yulie asked, feeling like she had just been led along a wild goose chase.
Not receiving an answer, and feeling more frustrated by the second, Yulie rounded on Alastor only to hold her tongue as she saw he was not looking at her but at the cliffs surrounding them his brows more furrowed than usual telling her that something had his attention as he slowly pulled out a small sack from inside his trenchcoat. Realising what he was about to do, Yulie quickly readied her bow for the battle ahead.
The instant Alastor threw the sack out into the middle of clearing, a blur of red darted out from the dark alcove it had been hiding in and caught the sack before it could hit the ground. As the fire lizard skidded to a stop, Alastor had swung his staff in a wide arc casting an ice spell on the walls that created rows of sharp icicles all the way up in order to prevent the creature from escaping them.
As he did this, Yulie had begun her assault on the lizard. Drawing several arrows from the quiver on her hip, the Countess fired them off in rapid succession catching the lizard's attention but unable to land a hit as the creature scuttled off searching for a way out.
With his task done, Alastor turned his own focus onto the lizard. Driving the bottom of his staff into the ground, the mage created spears of stone to spring from the ground in an attempt to skewer or disorient the lizard.
His ploy worked as the panicking lizard completely forgot about Yulie until her next arrow pierced its armored hide at its most vulnerable point and went straight through the heart.
"Bullseye!" Yulie cheered as she watched the lizard drop dead.
"Don't celebrate just yet." Alastor scolded her while casting a wary eye around them as if expecting another fire lizard to suddenly appear and take the fallen one's place.
Blushing slightly at her blunder, Yulie quickly moved over to the felled lizard's body as she took out her hunting knife. Despite the durability of the hide, Yulie quickly managed to cut open the lizard's front claws to extract a pair of identical looking stones of rich reddish ember.
Her goal accomplished, both Yulie and Alastor made haste back the way they came, not slowing their pace until they were sure they were not being followed by any more fire lizards. Even then, they remained quiet until they had reached the gondola post and were soaring through the sky back towards Greede.
"We finally did it." Yulie whispered as she rolled the pair of firestones around in her hands.
"Being generous in your praise, aren't you?" Alastor inquired a slight teasing tone in his voice if Yulie heard right.
"Well, considering you taught me everything I know about magic; watched my back during all the searches into the Flanders for resources Greede couldn't provide for me; put up with me for…nearly five years now isn't it? Pretty sure you deserve some of the credit." Yulie pointed out pocketing the pair of stones that would complete her homemade statue, unable to prevent herself from reminiscing of their first meeting back when she was thirteen.
Being the only child and heiress to the Drisdall name, Yulie had been introduced to the first, second and even third sons of every noble family in Greede within a year of turning twelve. Unfortunately for them, Yulie saw nothing in her would-be suitors that attracted her to them mostly due to their shared belief that a woman should not have such a responsible role. Once she had rejected them all, the nobles resorted to more underhand methods such as bribery, kidnapping and death threats.
Realising his spirited daughter was becoming a target, Lord Drisdall made arrangements to have someone protect and tutor his daughter or, as Yulie called it at the time, an unwanted babysitter. At least, that was what she said before meeting Alastor. The moment she entered her father's study and saw the mage standing beside her father's desk, Yulie was certain her heart stopped beating for as long as she looked at him until the sound of her father's voice pulled her attention away from the stranger.
Even now, almost five years to the day, Yulie could still feel that same feeling from back then just by looking over at Alastor whose attention was on the setting sky seen through the gondola's window. She knew she needed to tell him now before something took him away from her. Not death, obviously but, sooner or later their paths would separate unless she took steps to prevent it.
Steeling herself, Yulie made to speak only to suddenly find herself getting flung towards Alastor as the gondola got struck by a strong crossbreeze. Surprised as he was, Alastor instinctively wrapped his arms round her as she collided with him grunting as their combined weight sent them into the side of the gondola hard.
As the craft stabilised, Yulie felt Alastor's strong arms, which a moment ago were wound tight around her, begin to loosen. Not wanting him to let go, she quickly wound her own arms round his waist and held on tightly as if wanting to savor the moment in case it would be the last she had with him.
"Violet, what are you?" Alastor started to grumble.
"Please." She mumbled into his chest not wanting him to let go of her. "Don't let me go."
"Come on. It's just some turbulence. Nothing major." Alastor pointed out misunderstanding what was happening.
Yulie could not put into words what her heart was saying so chose to show him instead through letting go, Yulie stood on tiptoes as she pressed her lips to Alastor's. The spark she was expecting when they kissed was far better than any of her dreams had prepared her for especially when she felt Alastor's arms tighten their hold on her as he reciprocated the kiss increasing her happiness severalfold.
Eventually, with great reluctance, Yulie pulled back both so that she could take in a much needed breath and because she could not stay on her toes any longer. Even so, the smile she was sporting was not going to be leaving her flushed face any time soon.
"Don't go." She whispered keeping her eyes locked on Alastor's as they stared into her very soul she felt.
Blinking once, Alastor let out a small chuckle as he kissed her forehead.
"Might make it hard to finish off your old man's present." He pointed out.
Yulie could not help but laugh as she pushed herself away from the mage.
"Mood ruiner!" She accused with no malice in her tone but a definite glint in her eye. "I better see you in my quarters when I get back from giving him that statue. After all that time spent making it, I'm gonna need a lot of rest and recuperation."
As Alastor assured the Countess, outside the Flanders in Balandor, a chain of events were about to unfold that soon would spread throughout the lands…
For those who've yet to connect the dots, Yulie is the child Medius gave to Lord Driscol, not Caesar. Makes you wonder how the games might have gone if they were mixed around, right?
